Manchester City

[Froggy]

He's definitely off isn't he.

[Deuce]

Makes his desire to leave entirely understandable, if that's the reason why.

[Dinho lad]

Sounds fishy, that.

[LV]

What a load of shit. If my bro was dying nee fucker would stop me going to see him. Horrific load of lies that.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Why did Yaya complain about Man City officials not shaking his hand on his birthday if the same Man City officials had also denied his request to spend time with his dying brother? I know which of those reasons would gain him more sympathy.

[Guest bimpy474]

Whatever job you're in, only a cunt of an employer wouldn't give you time off if you're losing a sibling to cancer.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Seems impossible to believe. It's just not how football works and Man City are a well run club.

[Ste]

Think there'll be a lot more to it than Yaya is making out.

[Belfast Mags]

I simply can't accept a word of that.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Yaya "They didn't buy me a birthday cake. It's a disgrace!"

 

Two weeks later

 

Yaya "Oh yes, I forgot to mention this the other week, they also said I couldn't spend time with my dying brother."

[Darth Crooks]

The cake his family finally got him must have gone off I reckon.

[Klaus]

Yaya "They didn't buy me a birthday cake. It's a disgrace!"

 

Two weeks later

 

Yaya "Oh yes, I forgot to mention this the other week, they also said I couldn't spend time with my dying brother."

 

Spot on

[Neil]

Yaya "They didn't buy me a birthday cake. It's a disgrace!"

 

Two weeks later

 

Yaya "Oh yes, I forgot to mention this the other week, they also said I couldn't spend time with my dying brother."

 

In one.

[Mr. Snrub]

Yaya Toure claims Manchester City would not let him spend time with his dying brother Ibrahim before he joined their post-season trip to Dubai.

 

Ibrahim Toure died last week in Manchester at the age of 28 after a battle with cancer.

 

Midfielder Yaya and Liverpool defender Kolo Toure are currently in Brazil with the Ivory Coast squad at the World Cup.

 

And Yaya Toure told France Football that City prevented him from leaving the title celebrations in Dubai.

 

He said: "City did not want to give me a few days. I went to celebrate in the wake of the league title in Abu Dhabi, while my brother was dying in his bed.

 

"In retrospect, I regret not having insisted. For not making them respect me. However, my employers knew that I was suffering for a few months seeing my brother's health decline."

 

Toure also said of Ibrahim: "He was my confidant, my best friend too."

 

City have declined to comment on Toure's remarks but it is understood they were not approached about the possibility of him returning to the UK. The club has granted compassionate leave in the past – former boss Roberto Mancini missed a game following the death of his father.

 

 

 

Yaya Toure is a complete and utter twat and I hope Man City sue him for these incredulous comments.

[Guest Roger Kint]

You kinda hope they did stop him from having the time off as the alternative is that Yaya is trying to profit from his brothers death which is fucking horrific.

 

Fwiw i seriously doubt City would stop him all because of a friendly match if he really did ask.

[The College Dropout]

He did say he would qualify his comments after the World Cup and that it would make sense but the time wasn't right.

[loki679]

Did Kolo get time off?

[toon25]

What a load of shit. If my bro was dying nee fucker would stop me going to see him. Horrific load of lies that.

[Guest thenorthumbrian]

You kinda hope they did stop him from having the time off as the alternative is that Yaya is trying to profit from his brothers death which is f***ing horrific.

 

Fwiw i seriously doubt City would stop him all because of a friendly match if he really did ask.

 

If he is trying to use his own brothers death as a bargaining chip in some kind of game with his club then that is something he will live to regret for the rest of his life. If he has any kind of conscience.

[biggs]

What a load of shit. If my bro was dying nee fucker would stop me going to see him. Horrific load of lies that.

tend to agree with that and does the same not apply to the ivory coast in the world cup ,he could have gave that a miss if he cared so much .footballers nowadays just money grabbing bastards with no morals 

[Tooj]

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/11509861.City_fans_defend_low_Etihad_crowd/?ref=rss

 

MANCHESTER CITY supporters have hit back at criticism from former United players Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand over the lack of atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium.

 

The high-profile pair expressed forthright opinions about the crowd as City played out an unconvincing 1-1 draw with Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday.

 

The attendance for the game was just 37,509, around 10,000 short of the ground's current capacity, which is being increased to 54,000 over the next year and eventually to 62,000.

 

The atmosphere was subdued and Scholes, in his role as a pundit for ITV Sport, picked up on this, comparing the occasion unfavourably to equivalent nights at other English clubs.

 

He said City's European nights did not have a "special feeling" while Ferdinand, who is now at QPR, used his Twitter feed to question why the club need to expand their stadium.

 

Andy Savage, who runs the website MCFCForum.com, felt these were cheap shots from wealthy footballers.

 

Savage, 43, of Hyde, said: "I took Rio Ferdinand to task on Twitter. He was taking the mickey out of the empty seats at the Etihad last night.

 

"He is living in his own bubble there. Some people are living hand to mouth and don't know where the next penny is coming from, and he's criticising them for not filling the stadium when the tickets are £35-plus.

 

"He was an absolute disgrace on Twitter, as was Scholes on ITV. They are multi-millionaires. They don't give the man on the street a second thought, how much it is costing people.

 

"The cost of living is going up, so many people are out of work. Football is not everyone's priority, like it used to be. People just can't afford, over the course of the month, to pay for tickets three, four or five times.

 

"I took Ferdinand to task, and not because he is an ex-United player. He's got an autobiography coming out. I'm sure he's not giving that away. I'm sure he's not joined QPR for the love it. He'll be getting a substantial salary.

 

"Perhaps it will hit home next year if QPR have to put their prices up and they won't be able to fill their stadium. It really wound me up last night."

 

David Mooney, who is a producer and host of the popular Blue Moon fans podcast, accepted that the atmosphere was underwhelming but felt Scholes' criticism was unfair.

 

Mooney, 26, of Manchester, said: "I think it was very flat and I can see what they are getting at.

 

"But this debate is coming from the wrong side of the fence. We have got multi-millionaires talking about empty seats in stands when ticket proces are £40 and £50.

 

"You can understand people who have paid for their season ticket saying this is one of the games they are going to miss to make it affordable for the year.

 

"It strikes me as a crass thing for people who have got plenty of millions in the bank to be able to do whatever they like to be dictating to other people what they should be doing."

 

After the game, City manager Manuel Pellegrini refused to blame the atmosphere for his side's below-par display, which left them with just one point from their opening two Group E games.

 

Richard Burns, who contributes to the Typical City blog and the Blue Moon podcast, feels performances and atmosphere in the Champions League are perhaps feeding each other negatively.

 

Burns, 26, of Denton, said: "Scholes said the atmosphere isn't as good as other English clubs on European nights. I think there is a point in that.

 

"As long as City have been in the Champions League the atmosphere has been a little underwhelming, probably not helped by performances. One perhaps feeds the other.

 

"Ferdinand's comments about empty seats - it is disappointing that someone should misjudge the situation like that. I think there is a point of how expensive football is.

 

"To cram in extra games in midweek for people who go all the other league and cup games is not particularly easy to do."

 

I think it's a fair point when you often hear from the Man City fans how amazing they are.

[NG32]

Funny how NUFC fill their stadium out...tougher times up here.

[Rich]

City's fans are shite like, I loved Scholes digging them out on ITV.

[Guest neesy111]

Funny how NUFC fill their stadium out...tougher times up here.

 

We didn't fill our stadium for 1/2 of the champion league games in 02/03 tbf.  Stupid pricing.

[Hughesy]

I have to say I always found it strange that our CL games back in the Robson era a) weren't complete sell outs and b) didn't have the greatest of atmospheres.